


Witches like us (don't burn for love)

by Fraus_Shafiq



Series: Magical Villain Kids (A greek tragedy, told in non related pieces) [3]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Snow White - All Media Types
Genre: All villains have issues, And now want war, Demigod Mal (Disney), Djinn Jay, Evie-centric (Disney), Evil Queen has issues, Fae Carlos, Fae Mal (Disney), Gen, Multi, Norse gods are nosy, Now I have a headcanon of Grimhilde stuck in my head, Seid-kona Evie, The Hunter was traitor-zoned, Villain kids need a hug, Wild Hunt, Witch Evie (Disney), goddamnit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28993335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fraus_Shafiq/pseuds/Fraus_Shafiq
Summary: "Gudrun, that's what you'll cautiously keep away from others, like Sigurd's wife. Take care of it, Evie, because names have power and yours once changed the world"The whole tale is told: never after her will any wife go thus in armour to avenge her brothers. She caused the death of three kings of a nation, bright lady, before she died."You will live and get revenge but you will not die for love, witches like us shouldn't die for love" She softly hummed, trying to calm down the baby "You and I come from a land with neverending snow, our hearts are cold as ice and our people are as hard as the weather - truthful daughters of Skaði - and love burns more than any pyre"Evie's name weighed heavy on her shoulders and tasted like iron on her tongue.  It was so heavy that sometimes Evie just wished to throw it away but she wouldn't, couldn't, it was the only thing in this world that solely belonged to her, as burdensome as it was. But... she was ice and frost, a daughter of winter even faraway from her right place and the magic that was her birthright. No king nor barrier will ever took her name away, so she will bear it and stand proud.
Relationships: Evie & Evil Queen (Disney), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Past Evil Queen/The Hunter
Series: Magical Villain Kids (A greek tragedy, told in non related pieces) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668541
Kudos: 35





	Witches like us (don't burn for love)

**Author's Note:**

> I'M ALIVE AND KICKING!! Sorry for going missing, I wasn't in a good mental place the first half of the year and then, shit happened. THIS IS MY BADASS COMEBACK, and I'm currently working on Metanoia so new chapter is gonna be out soon! Hope all of you are well and okay! (And know that reviews are love)

_Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers_

_Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters_

_A woman who is pure at heart and says her prayers by night_

_May still become a wolf when the winter moon is bright_

* * *

Evie was born at night, under a red full moon on the sky that no one on the Isle could have looked behind the storm over them. Grimhilde didn't need to, she knew - felt - the kid on her arms was a witch like her.

She smiled through the few hairs sticked at her cheeks since the sweat and held her close to her body, to her heart. The newborn was tiny and warm, still stained on blood and with a good pair of lungs she used so well to warn the world her survival.

The childbirth was complicated and with no one to help her in that half-ruined Castle, Grimhilde feared for a moment that she wouldn't survived it neither would the girl. The first seconds of silence were almost unbearable until the baby started screaming.

She sighed on relief.

Her daughter was a fighter.

A _warrior_.

"Gudrun, that's what you'll cautiously keep away from others, like Sigurd's wife. Beautiful and dangerous, woman as her will never ever be again. Take care of it, Evie, because names have power and yours once changed the world"

_The whole tale is told: never after her will any wife go thus in armour to avenge her brothers. She caused the death of three kings of a nation, bright lady, before she died._

"You will live and get revenge, my girl, but you will not die for love"

Grimhilde carefully kissed her forehead and stayed there for a moment.

"Witches like us shouldn't die for love" She softly hummed, trying to calm down the baby "You and I come from a land with neverending snow, our hearts are cold as ice and our people are as hard as the weather - truthful daughters of Skaði - and love burns more than any pyre"

* * *

Evie's name weighed heavy on her shoulders and tasted like iron on her tongue; she whispered it to herself within the darkness of her room when the words of her mother cut too close to her heart, she muttered it through her teeth when the Castle felt too empty around her and the loneliness oppressed her, when she wanted to get out but perfectly knew that set foot outside meant something worse than just an exile because Maleficent wasn't merciful to the ones that disobey her. It was so heavy that sometimes Evie just wished to throw it away but she wouldn't, couldn't, it was the only thing in this world that solely belonged to her, as burdensome as it was. She was ice and frost, a daughter of winter even faraway from her right place and the magic that was her birthright. No king nor barrier will ever took her name away, so she will bear it and stand proud.

When Grimhilde was in a good mood - something scarce as Evie grew up - she told her about her home; not the Kingdom now under Snow White control but her true motherland, so far, far away from that land of summer. Her eyes, as clear as two jewels, shone with fondness everytime she evoked the words to describe such place - to Evie, a beautiful unreachable dream - her lips painted with words a stunning but treacherous work of art. The severity of her voice washed away by a warm stream, her tone of voice as sweet as honey, it was the voice of someone talking about something they truly loved. Evie carefully listened because she wanted to know about the only thing that could soften the frozen heart of her mother.

The cold, rugged and precipitous terrain have been, since ancient time, a natural barrier against invaders and enemies. It was not only dangerous for outsiders but also for the people who lived there, but unlike them, they were as sharped as the freezing storms that often heaped the area. They grinned on death's face and waved at her, as they walked on their roads. It was a rough life, but not a joyless or colourless one; actually, life was celebrated every day and night, as ephemeral as it was, so it was needed to be lived with courage and merriment, there were no regrets if they didn't let them exist, if they faced the path ahead of them without uncertainties and in complete freedom of their actions and choices. Due to that faith on free will, every individual was also responsible for their acts.

Grimhilde accepted her punishment on the Isle, but not for that she felt less bitter. It didn't help that her only daughter was also paying for her mistakes, the law of her land would never allowed it.

_~~Her people would never allowed it.~~ _

But she wasn't at home and her people were too far from her to even think about retaliation.

( _"What we do, come back to us, but you didn't do anything Gudrun, always remember that. It doesn't matter what King Adam says, what their law and their barrier do to us, you didn't do anything and deserved to be free as any of that wretched worms that happily lives on that miserable Kingdom of his.")_

The beliefs of her, _their_ , people were very simple to follow: nature is wise, it must be respected and received its blessings and retributions as they come; their gods were parents and siblings, brothers and sisters in arms, they believed and their gods provided, their favor was not absolute but there was no subjugation between them.

_("They fight with us, sometimes for us, they suffer and celebrate as well as we do. We're not gods, too fragil in comparison, but they are our family Gudrun, we will rest in their sacred halls when our time comes and in our death, their eternal company we will be. As daughters of Skaði, we are never and will never be truly alone, the barrier may prevent us from hearing their voices but..." Grimhilde came up to her and put her hand over where her heart should be "As long as this thing here keeps beating, they listen, they always do.")_

Grimhilde was sent as a gift - a compensation - to the recently widowed father of Snow White; her own father, a silly old King who committed an extremely serious mistake, decided that the best way to make up for it was given his own daughter away as a sacrifice, a pretty face to appease the wrath that would have came upon their land, a calamity that himself has brought upon them. Evie's mother never told her what her grandfather did, but she imagined it was a very big miscalculation if he chose one of his children to pay the price.

Her mother certainly hated him, almost as much as she loathed Snow White. Fortunetly for Grandfather, the "Evil Queen" was imprisoned and didn't have him in first place of her priority list to kill, that was reserved for her stepdaughter - Evie supposed she could be consider her kind of stepsister as well, though she didn't want to think of that woman in those terms. At first, it was very difficult for Evie to understand her mother's hatred - besides the obvious motives - but after some time she got it. Even that woman's name was offensive to them, specially to them.

_("That little lamb with her delicate hands, her tender white skin and her frail health doesn't have the right to compare herself with snow. Winter is sacred for us and that girl named in its honor makes me sick, everytime she breathes she spits on our ancestors graves")_

True beauty was a complex concept on Grimhilde's motherland. Strenght was beauty and was as important as appearance, people was tough as steel and ice cold as a winter tempest, a lovely face wouldn't help if it doesn't let them cope with impending death. Evie herself was named after one of the most gorgeous woman that have ever existed, , according to their culture, but not a frail one; Gudrun, the first, devastated three Kingdoms and shattered a dynasty for love and that was no minor thing.

_("She loved her husband and loved her brothers, so deeply, so madly, that even if that love drove her fight on, it burned her to ashes in the end."_

_"And as daughters of winter, we do not burn"_

_"Exactly, little one, we do not burn for love.")_

Since Evie could remember, she was only allowed to speak with her father - The Hunter - during her lessons. He imparted his knowledge and, if they were lucky to be a bit away form the hawk-like gaze of the Evil Queen, he also told her stories from beyond the barrier. Evie loved him in a strange way, both of them shared a tenderness and softness that seems impossible to exist within her mother but... at the same time, she was able to see very clearly why Grimhilde called the man weak. His eyes were honest and his expression completely open for the world, like he wore his heart on his sleeve fearless of the consequences. Evie could easily recognize his anger, his pain due to her mother's rejection, his bitterness for not being able to be there for her and raised her. He was impulsive and his blood should have been magma on his veins to cope with the intensity of his existence. He was the one who betrayed Grimhilde for a girl, one that wasn't even his flesh and blood, her mother would never trust Evie to him, not with the fickleness of his heart.

The Hunter simmered in his own rage and would drag anyone who come too close to his pyre.

Despite all, Evie's lips couldn't help to curve in a reluctant smile everytime she could see him. His laugh, his lessons, his warmth... they were her personal summer and though she knew witches like them didn't mix well with people like him, Evie thought that being around her father was would basking in the sunlight feel like.

_("You loved him"_

_"Once upon a time, but you know how that ended, my little Seið-kona"_

_"I know... Do you regret it?"_

_She swallowed the untold 'Do you regret me?'_

_Grimhilde focused her eyes on Evie and for the first time in what felt like years, she slowly approached to her and touched her cheek. Her hand was soft, but so cold that it hurt, nevertheless the gesture was tender. It was like home for her._

_"No. You are not something I should feel regret for." )_

Joining Mal felt right in all the wrong ways. There was something in her that calls for Evie and repels her at the same time, something she didn't understand. When she finally asked her mother about it, the only thing it gained her was a very amused smile.

_("Oh, Maleficent's daughter, you say? Interesting choice, no wonder you want to stay close to her"_

_"What?"_

_"There are things on this Isle way more eerie than just some fae and witches, little storm, and you came across with one. It doesn't really surprise me, I almost let myself fall into his hands too, he's a quite charming one in his own way and his fire doesn't burn us, probably that girl is the same.")_

Jay was another story. Each time Evie was in his vicinity, she felt like her soul wanted to escape her body to run on the opposite direction; not that she expected anything different getting friendly with a creature of the desert but it was disappointing, nevertheless. It took a while, both of them had needed to generate resistance to the other's nature, but eventually they succeeded to being around each other, their bond was strong enough to bear with it.

Who really amazed her was Carlos.

Oh, Carlos.

There was something behind his big and innocent brown eyes, something that strangely reminded her of her father and her mother in all the right ways, something that was similar to Evie as a daughter of Skaði and cries out for her. She was aware he didn't know what he was doing, that didn't recognize the call, but Evie is a witch and knows well to identify a fellow companion of Vilda jakten and there was no doubt he was one. She didn't comprehend how was that possible, Cruella was as human as they come but who - _what_ \- she conceived Carlos with was _definitely_ not.

His magic tasted like darkness, like crooked branches and rotten roots. It was old, powerful and sweetly whispered in her ear as an ancient siren song. Evie curled herself around him on the rough nights, when nightmares drowned him on his sleep and his teeth lengthened and sharpened enough to pierce his lips as something pushed him to run, run, run on a hunt. If Evie - Gudrun - is winter, Carlos is the death that it brings as a coat and that connection comforted them somehow.

Evie understood, truly, that none of them - none of the villains' kids - deserved to be on that Isle, a punishment that didn't belong to them for a crime they never committed. The warm wind caressing her cheeks and the salty scent of the sea screamed to her that she was very far away from where she should be, but she internaly linked it to her own otherness. Grimhilde comes from a strange land, with stranger customs and stranger people; despite being born on the Isle, Evie knew that there was more ice in her veins than any of the magical creatures there could ever imagine. She, as well as her mother, are the outsiders among the outsiders, the other among the others and no matter how much she tried, there were gaps that could never be narrowed.

~~_But she also had a feel in her gut that it was not related to that._ ~~

_("They listen to me? How?"_

_"They just do. You know it, you feel it."_

_"I don't really think that I feel it."_

_Her mother simply smiled at her, a faint curve at the edge of her lips that seems to hide all the misteries of the Universe. She refused to let herself be fooled by that. Clearly, Grimhilde didn't know it either.)_

When the news of the Auradon's letter arrival reached her ears, Evie was not sure what to think. Getting out was their dream, all they ever wanted, but nothing in this world was for free and their parents were too selfish to just let them go like that.

~~_She hoped they didn't have to pay it with blood._ ~~

Evie was aware that her mother wouldn't ever condemn her for getting out without her, but surely would hurt her. And Grimhilde never forgives those who hurt her. If she go through that miserable barrier, chain free, she would never could come back because there weren't be where. Her mother's Castle wouldn't open the gates for her. Grimhilde wouldn't see her, wouldn't even acknowledge her as her daughter. And Evie... Gudrun wasn't able to withstand the possiblity, the mere thought terrified her.

None of them have ever had the best relationship with their parents but Evie knew that, among the four of them, Grimhilde was the closest to real motherly love that anyone on that wretched Isle has ever had and she wasn't planning on losing that. Her mother, for all she was as biting as the wind in the middle of a snowstorm, she was also the embodiment of what she considered home. Her mother was ice and frost but also soft kisses on her cheeks and tender hands on her hair. Her love was hurtful, most of the time, but Evie was unable to ever let it go.

She can't help relaxing at hearing Maleficent's plan, for all of her friends tensed up as a bow string. Even if was completely - utterly - insane, Evie was okay with that. She didn't have to choose and that let her breath.

_("This is not a goodbye, Gudrun, there is no reason for ugly tears. Honey, you're going to ruin her make up."_

_"But..."_

_And at her hesitation, her mother leaves behind her mask of the Evil Queen for a second, just a second, as her eyes soften in something Evie learned to recognize as fondness._

_"It doesn't really matter to me if the plan works or not, Evie. Once out, you'll be able to listen and will not need me to take your hand as a little child."_

_"Listen?")_

Their parents bade them farewell on the wharf, along with several kids of the Isle that looked at them with either envy or pity. All of them there were aware of the real reason of why these villains were so eager to pushed their kids away and it didn't have to do with amability; but as well as them, they knew that getting out was getting out, no matter the limitations.

She curled up to Mal after getting into the limousine and took Carlos hand in hers, who seemed to be as anxious as her. There was something crawling under her skin that anticipated their departure. Jay and Mal didn't feel it, but she knew that there was something, no, _someone_ waiting for her outside of the barrier for them, for _her_.

She couldn't see anyone but she didn't need to. She's a daughter of Skaði, they know better than anyome how it feels the aura of a predator near them, but she also get the feeling that this wasn't one she could ever hunt. And the same second they got through the barrier, Evie completely comprehends what her mother meant all those years with listening.

**"Oh, little Seið-kona, our moment has finally come."**

The winds carried the sound of war drums.

* * *

~~_One of these days a comin', I'm gonna to take that boy's crown_ ~~

_There's a serpent in these still waters, lying deep down_

_To that king I will bow, at least for now_

~~_One of these days a comin', I'm gonna to take that boy's crown_ ~~

**Author's Note:**

> Why bring norse mythology into Descedants?  
> Now, about this one-shot, is a staging of an old idea, the mythological of Evie and Grimhilde. You see, far beyonf the references to snow and winter that Snow White evokes, the name of the Evil Queen is Grimhilde or Grimhild, who coincidentally is a carachter of norse mythology, AN EVIL WITCH/sorceress neither more nor less, wife of Gjúki - King of Burgundians in the Völsunga saga. The story that involved Gudrun - and Sigurd, her husband thanks to Grimhild's manipulations - is frascinating and I invited you to investigate it. Here, the important is the connection to that world and that folklore, that got me thinking in another type of Witch, are the Seið-kona. They were women practitioners of magic, users of Seiðr. Most of the gods here are googleable and have a page on Wikipedia, but to make a long story short: Despite the link of Seiðr with Odín and Freyja, I choose Skaði for her clear connection to winter and hunting - since here Evie's father is The Hunter - (she's a jotunn, a godess related to bow hunting, skii, winter and mountains), besides the relation that she has with Grimhilde in this fic for their similar situations (both of them given away as wives as compensation by their fathers). Also, as Evie listens the call of the Vilda Jakten (the Wild Hunt), I found it appropiated.  
> The references of how Grimhilde thinks of the gods, I took it from the Ásatrú, a very interesting modern application of the old norse religion.


End file.
